Deborah Spriggs prepared a special shrimp dish.

Former social worker Deborah Spriggs loves to cook for young children.

Strong women and service are the two defining elements in Deborah Spriggs' work.

After two decades of social work, she wanted to work with her hands. While pursuing her culinary studies at MATC, she joined Women Chefs and Restaurateurs and met Julia Child. Nearly 20 years later, the chef credits that validation she felt from those other women chefs for the push to start her own custom catering and personal chef business, Expressively Your Personal Chef Service. She's cooked for countless parties, politicians and professional athletes, but she counts cooking with kids as her passion.

Social work to self-employed

Before I changed careers, I was a social worker. Working in that field, I needed a release. I started a little floral business. I had a business name, Expressively Your Floral Service. So it is not yours, it is about the customer: your. Now it's Expressively Your Personal Chef Service.

Back to the beginning

I got married as a teenager. I was a young bride, a young mother, and the option of going back to school and getting a bachelor's and master's degree, I never thought that would have happened. But it did. I have a master's in social work. I worked in that field about 20 years.

Milwaukee mentors

June Perry and Thelma Sias are my mentors. They are amazing women. They have nothing to do with food. They're just amazing.

Balancing a budget

I worked with New Concepts Self Development Center. I was one of the 15 social workers. They taught us to do budgets, which I hated. But I listened.

I remember being a newer supervisor, and I was the one who aced the budget. That was where I learned how to manage my business. I have never been in the red because of that. Never.

Dishes from dad

I got the cooking skills from my dad. When he was going to law school in Chicago, in order to pay for that, he was working on the railroad as a cook.

I remember watching my dad make homemade doughnuts when he'd come home late at night. He'd make corn bread that tasted like it came from the oven, but he made it on the stovetop. Succotash, that's something he taught me, and I still make it today, one of my favorite dishes. I love to cook, because it made me close to my dad.

My mother was a different story. She could make four good things: homemade syrup, good pork chops, good macaroni and cheese, and she could serve up a good pickled herring.

Choosing to serve

When you're African-American and you're a woman and you cook, it has a different twist and a different feel to it. I don't care if someone calls me a cook, I don't have a problem with that, but what I wanted to make sure was I had a level of respect for this domestic work. It is about service.

Women helping women

At MATC I saw this thing for Women Chefs & Restaurateurs. What is that? I called these people and told them, I feel alone. I'm here in Wisconsin. I don't know what I want to do. I'm serious about handling my business, but I need support. That was in 2001.

Long story short, I gathered a little money and went to Santa Monica, Calif. They allowed me to cook a praline dish, really a cake from my people in New Orleans. Julia Child was there.... I got a chance to meet her. To this day I'm still a member of Women Chefs & Restaurateurs.

Healthy habits

I was asked to be the resident chef for a publication, "Girlfriends Health Guide for Women of Color." It was all about health, so I thought I have to be the face of health in the community. I started running, walking and lifting weights. My focus for personal chef-ing became health. People want not only healthy meals but healthy stuff for parties.

I've had the opportunity to cook for Jill Biden, the vice president's wife. That was a highlight. That was at Thelma's. I've also cooked for Gwendolyn Moore, Jesse Jackson and many others.

Cooking with kids

I adopted a Milwaukee Public School, and now I work with different schools. All I ever knew was working with families and children. I wanted to start teaching people to cook. I want them to eat a little healthier.

What I really want to do now is to work with more of the Head Start programs. There are so many children ages 3 to 5 who are morbidly obese and have high blood pressure.

On her off days

I love going out to eat. I'm single. I sit at the bar at places like Hom. I enjoy the food. I cook for a living, so I wouldn't go to a place if I didn't like the food.

Her best recipe

I make a roasted honey mustard and basil salmon that I marinate. I use French Provence, an herb, very fragrant, very calming, and I like it on the seafood. I add that and crust it with Parmesan cheese. It is delicious. I make my own sauces, my own dressings. Nobody makes honey mustard basil sauce like I do.

Athlete's advantage

I have cooked for a few baseball players, Rickie Weeks while he was here, a couple meals for Prince Fielder. I have cooked for Milwaukee Bucks players. The ones I'm getting lately, they're young. They don't want to eat healthy. They're made to eat healthy.

Everyone should know

How to make a good stock. You can literally make beef, chicken or vegetable stock, put it in plastic bags and keep it in the freezer. It doesn't take a lot. Do it just like our grandmothers did.

Fork. Spoon. Life. explores the everyday relationship that local notables (within the food community and without) have with food. To suggest future personalities to profile, email nstohs@journalsentinel.com.